Ming Dynasty: pacifying the rebellion and defending the border, dominating the world

Chapter 266 Li Qiushui's Imagination
Princess Li Qinglu of Yinchuan was completely dumbfounded when she learned that "she" had staged a coup, massacred the court, and used absolute force and bloodshed to force all the officials to bow down and acknowledge her as the Empress of Western Xia.

"I'm... now I'm the emperor?"

"No, it's my cousin. She's using my name, and despite being a woman, she's established a regime and taken control of the throne?"

Ever since Li Qiushui was brought before Li Qinglu and she learned of Wang Yuyan's identity, Li Qinglu has felt as if she were in a dream, and this feeling only intensifies now.

A woman became empress!
Unprecedented in history, even Empress Lü at the founding of the Han Dynasty, Empress Dou who assisted Emperor Wen of Han in creating the prosperous reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, Empress Dowager Wang who was the birth mother of Emperor Wu of Han, and Empress Dowager Wang who usurped the Han throne due to the power of her maternal relatives.

This even includes all the countries under heaven, such as Empress Dugu of the Sui Dynasty.

No one would dare to do something as outrageous as a woman becoming empress, something that would invite condemnation from all sides.

Unfortunately, it was Li Qinglu's cousin who did it.

And it worked!!
"Clearly, I am the princess, I am Li Qinglu." Li Qinglu felt a strange pang of sadness. She looked exactly like Wang Yuyan, and even considered herself to be slightly better in terms of temperament.

As a result, she was placed under house arrest in the palace, and Wang Yuyan, using her identity, accomplished something that would go down in history.

Wang Yuyan got all the benefits.

She was branded with a reputation for coup d'état, usurping power, massacring the court, and being bloodthirsty.

How could Li Qinglu possibly remain calm?
After a long silence, Li Qinglu sighed helplessly, suppressing the bitter envy, jealousy, and resentment in her heart, and asked, "Where is Father? How is he?"

Li Qiushui shook her head: "Don't worry, although Yu Yan is ruthless, she did not harm your father. She only made Jing Zuo move to Luoxia Palace and abdicate to become the Emperor Emeritus."

If Li Qinglu felt a mixture of envy and resentment, then Li Qiushui felt nothing but helplessness.

She had already vaguely guessed why Wang Yuyan had undergone such a great change, and even what the identities of those suddenly appearing, completely unfamiliar terrestrial immortals and celestial grandmasters were.

However, the more she learned, the more desperate Li Qiushui became.

"Heavenly Sword!"

"That Prince Su really has a grand gesture."

"Even a weak woman like Lian Yuyan, who doesn't know martial arts, can be easily trained into a terrestrial immortal, and several terrestrial immortals are sent to help her, all for the purpose of usurping the throne of Xixia."

"That's really... quite a generous gesture!"

Li Qiushui gazed out the window, her heart filled with unease.

The seemingly peaceful Western Xia imperial palace now harbors undercurrents a hundred times more terrifying than they have been in the past century. On the surface, Wang Yuyan has only revealed herself as a terrestrial immortal and the assistance of another terrestrial immortal.

In fact, outside the Jade Wall Palace where Li Qiushui and Li Qinglu were, there was a terrestrial immortal watching them at all times.

There weren't just ten Grandmasters of Celestial Phenomena who came.

Instead, there were a full thirty.

This formidable force, capable of overthrowing even the Southern Song, Northern Song, or Sui dynasties, was destined to change hands the moment Wang Yuyan, in her capacity as Li Qinglu, staged a coup and forced the emperor to abdicate. There was no possibility of any reversal.

Even if Li Qiushui contacted her master Xiaoyaozi and summoned one or two more terrestrial immortals, it would be the same.

“However, it may not necessarily be a bad thing.” Li Qiushui seemed to think of something and looked meaningfully at Li Qinglu, who was standing to the side with her lips pursed and a wronged expression on her face. She was still feeling resentful for Wang Yuyan’s bold reforms of Western Xia in the court.

"Although Prince Su is the youngest land-based sword immortal."

"But precisely because he is young enough, even heroes can't resist the charms of a beautiful woman. If he can be attracted to Yu Yan, there's no reason why he wouldn't be attracted to Qing Lu." Thinking of this, Li Qiushui suppressed the extremely crazy idea in her mind and focused on figuring out how to use Li Qing Lu to get close to Zhu Jinzhen.

In the world of martial arts, the strong prey on the weak, and it's common for the weak to cling to the strong. The Free and Unfettered Sect, in particular, emphasizes following one's heart and being carefree, unrestrained by etiquette and rules.

If Li Qiushui hadn't been a family member who knew her own situation and was already old, and hadn't known that Prince Su would definitely not be interested in her, she might have even considered taking matters into her own hands.

Land gods!
Li Qiushui has been nearly ninety years old since she became a disciple of Xiaoyaozi, and she is only a Grandmaster of Celestial Phenomena. Her younger sister Li Canghai, who has extraordinary talent, and her mortal enemy Wu Xingyun, the Child Granny of Tianshan, are also at this level.

What about Wang Yuyan?

All it takes is for that man to take a liking to her, and she can easily step into the realm of immortals that they all dream of. He even went so far as to send so many experts to help Wang Yuyan take revenge on her grandmother, seize the throne of Western Xia, and become the only female emperor in history.

Such a feat, if even a fraction of it were to spread, would be enough to drive women all over the world crazy.

He offered his cultivation as a terrestrial immortal and the entire kingdom as a dowry.

Li Qiushui was certain that no woman in the world could resist such temptation.

Because Li Qiushui herself couldn't resist it.

She thought of her senior brother Wuyazi, whom she had loved and never forgotten all her life, and gave herself a bitter, almost manic laugh as she looked in the mirror.

You shouldn't meet someone too amazing when you're young.

Otherwise, he would not be able to spend the rest of his life in peace.

Even if Li Qiushui was unwilling to admit it, she had to say that compared to the young Prince Su of the Ming Dynasty, her senior brother Wuyazi was completely overshadowed.

She went to great lengths for Wu Yazi, even turning against her sister and becoming enemies with her senior sister Wu Xingyun, only to be met with Wu Yazi's estrangement and indifference in the end.

Wang Yuyan, however, was a hundred times luckier than her.

She met the person who cherished her most during the most beautiful years of her life. He not only spared no expense to cultivate her from a weak woman into a peerless immortal, but also gave her an entire country.

"World-shaking cultivation, supreme power, the wealth of a nation, all are not as valuable as a smile from a beautiful woman. Senior brother, if you could treat me the same way, I would gladly die." Li Qiushui thought of Wang Yuyan again, imagining the scene where Prince Su, Zhu Jinzhen, would spare no expense for her, loving only her, willing to offer a nation and unparalleled cultivation as a dowry, all just to win a smile from her.

I'm even more disappointed in Wuyazi!
If she hadn't been so deeply hurt by Wu Yazi, why would Li Qiushui have ended up as the so-called Empress Dowager of Western Xia? Her greatest wish in her youth was to grow old with Wu Yazi.

Unfortunately, our connection was shallow and our fates were weak, and in the end we could only be separated by vast distances, never to meet again.

Recalling the past, even with Li Qiushui's temperament, she couldn't help but feel a bit bitter.

"If only he were you!"

If her senior brother, her beloved, were not Wuyazi, but Prince Su, Zhu Jinzhen, then he would have given the entire Western Xia to Wang Yuyan just to win her smile, sparing no expense to cultivate her into a young man destined to become a celestial being.

She would definitely not go to the Western Regions, nor would she enter the palace; she would surely grow old with him and live a loving life together for a hundred years.

如果
How wonderful that would be!

Li Qiushui murmured repeatedly as if possessed, moved to tears by her own imagined conjecture.

Zhu Jinzhen probably never dreamed that his plan, which was merely a pre-arranged move to use Xixia as a retreat and a hindrance, would be misunderstood by Li Qiushui. She thought that Wang Yuyan hated her, her grandmother, for neglecting Wang Yuyan and her mother. When Zhu Jinzhen found out, he was filled with righteous indignation and helped her take revenge.

This led to the unprecedented upheaval that is now known as the Western Xia Dynasty.

Extending this further, people directly imagined a tragic love story between him and Wang Yuyan, a tale of love that would last a lifetime.

If Zhu Jinzhen knew, he would probably tell Li Qiushui directly, "Please, don't let your love-struck mind overthink things."

(End of this chapter)